Starfish? Help! Good or bad?

[lwysocki51]

This little guy randomly showed up in my tank? I am having trouble finding what I should do about him? Are they good are bad? I do have a duncan coral and a torch hammer coral in my tank.

Where do they come from? And should I keep it or get rid of it?

TIA

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Asterina star (Aquilonastra). I would just remove it to be safe as some will eat coral, others will be an addition to your CUC. They can also populate very quickly. IMO not worth the risk.

 

[krollins]

+1 Asterina star
Usually they don't eat coral

 

[PharmrJohn]

Some like them, some don't. If you get too many of them for your taste, then there are livestock options to get rid of them.

 

[i cant think]

Aquilonastra can be a risk but generally in low numbers are fine. I didn’t have issues with mine until they were in the 1000s, then I lost my Duncan, Hammer and more colonies I had for 4-5 years.
This was only about half of that outbreak.

 

[Solo McReefer]

Aquilonastra can be a risk but generally in low numbers are fine. I didn’t have issues with mine until they were in the 1000s, then I lost my Duncan, Hammer and more colonies I had for 4-5 years.
This was only about half of that outbreak.

You could start up a Chinese food place with that tank

 

[Mark Goode]

I saw one in my tank over a year ago, and removed it immediately. I did the same with the next one, and the next... All to no avail.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

Observe what it is doing, as there are over a thousand sub species. Mine just eat algae, and over a hundred are on the glass in the morning when the lights are coming on. I can see the little eating trails they make, in the algae.